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Andre Ward vs. Alexander Brand Preview by Alex Lee

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For
Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KO), Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KO) is literally
an afterthought. That is to say, according to Ward and his trainer,
Virgil Hunter, every other possible opponent was sought before Brand
was selected at the last possible moment. This revelation from Ward
and Hunter was in response to a backlash whereby Ward was accused of
“cherrypicking.”

Indeed,
last year HBO commentator Jim Lampley demeaned Ward for initially
wanting to fight Brand on the undercard of Cotto-Canelo, which was
canceled due to a knee injury on Ward's side. (Jim Lampley's
ridicule of Ward was prompted by Ward's public challenge to fight
Gennady Golovkin. Ward had called Golovkin “Lil' G” for avoiding
the fight. As of now, Gennady Golovkin is the face of HBO boxing and
the obvious favorite of Jim Lampley.)

Brand
was one of many fighters to initially reject the offer fight Ward
this time around, although he eventually accepted. Brand is a former
super-middleweight who is not perceived as being highly skilled –
non-technical, slow, without defense, and also lacking in balance and
footwork.

...Brand-Ward
appears to be so uncompetitive that I am predicting a technical
knockout by Andre Ward by the middle rounds.

Since
Ward-Kovalev looms for November, the main takeaway of Brand-Ward is
the power of Ward at light-heavyweight. Indeed, Sergey Kovalev and
his trainer, John David Jackson, have made no secret that they have
cherrypicked a fight with Andre Ward for his perceived lack of power
in a lower weight class.